Wheel



A. E. HEDGES March 24. 1925.

WHEEL Filed June ,2, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A.ZT[22'a"yeb' l N VENTOR ATTCRNEY WITNESS:

March 24, 1925.

1 A. E. HEDGES WHEEL Filed June 2, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ji lfifafy i ATTORNEY WITNESS:

' an y other sort.

' plied to the inside ofa wheel.

I Patented Mar 24,1925. V

1 L UNlTEDi'STATES j j ALFRED EVHEDGES, or LAFAYETTE, oHIo.

WHEEL.

Application filed June 2,

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, ALF ED E. Hnnens, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Fayette, in thecounty of Allen and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wheels, of which the Y following is a specification.

This invention has for its object theproj vision of a wheel attachment designed foruse to prevent skidding of the wheel, in-

crease traction, and to eliminate the necessity of using anti-skid chainsor devices of More specifically stated, the invention embodies a casing or inclosure adapted to be supported upon one side of the wheel, and in-whicl1 casing is arranged a pluralityof lugs capable of'ibeing projected'beyond the periphery ofthe casing to a position'where they. are brought into contact with the ground or surface for the purpose stated.

and subsequentlyreturned to their normal positions within the casing.

Incarryingoutthe invention, it is my purpose to provide means controlled by the driver or operator of the machine whereby the lugs can beprojected for use when de sired, maintained in such position, and re tracted at the will of the operator.

The nature and advantages of the invennection with the accompanying drawings,

the invention residing in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts as claimed. a I p,

In the drawings forming part of this application, like numerals of reference indicate similar partsin the 'several views, and wherein; 1 I

Figure 1.is avicw showing, the device ap- Figure 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of Figure 1. 1 i v Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of. Figure 2. Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the levers and thelug carried thereby.

Figure 5 'is'aperspective view of the pawl for holding the lug in a projected position for use.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be noted that the device forming the subj ect. matter of this invention is in the nature of a wheel attachment, and embodies an annular casing supported by the telly of the 1924. Serial No. 717,375.

wheel A, and arranged at the inner side of the wheel as clearly illustrated.

This casing is indicated at 10, and can be constructed in any suitable manner and from any suit- -able material without departing from the spirit of the invention. Arranged within the casing is a circumferential series of lugs 11 carried by levers 1.2. the latter having their corresponding extremities [pivoted as at 13. These levers are so arranged that when swung in one direction, they project the lugs 11 through openings in the periphery of the casing 10 into positions where they are brought into contact with the ground or surface either to prevent skidding of the 1nachine,'or to promote traction, especially.-

when the machine is moved in soft or muddy territory. Each lug 11 1s elongated and curved as shown, and connected at a point between its ends with the lever 12. The inner or tail end of eachlug'is formed with a plurality of-stepped shoulders 14 adapted to be engaged by a pawl 15 to hold the lug projected fron'i'the casing for the purpose stated. Each of these pawls 15 is in the nature of a springstrong enough to hold .the lugs'll in soft ground or territory, or

capable of permitting the lugs to yield when brought into engagement or contact with. a I I solid surface. There is one of these pawls 15 tion. will be better understood when the fol- Y for each lug, the pawl being pivoted as at .16 about the axle and provided with an extension 17, the extension from the various pawls extending in thesame direction. As-

sociated with each pawlis aresilient ele- .1nent 18 which holds the pawl closely reareprojected through the periphery of the casing lOagainst the tension of the resilient element 19, there being one of. these elements associated with each lever 12, and which elements normally maintain the lugs in a retracted position, and return the lugs to that position subsequent to the operation of the pawls 15 therefrom.

For the purpose of controlling the movements of said lugs and pawls, so that the lugs can be projected for use when desired, and allowed to return to normal position subsequent to said use, I provide cams 20 and 21 respectively which are associated with the axle 22. These cams are controlled by a levernot shownand adapted to be arranged within convenient reach of the driver of the vehicle or machine, so that the cam 20 can be moved into a position to contact the projections 24 carried by the various levers 12 as the wheel rotates. The cam 20 engages these projections 2st in successive order, and thereby throws the lugs 11 to a. projected position for use. As each lug is forced from within the casing 10 to its active position, the spring 18 of the adjacent pawl automatically moves the latter into engagement with one of the shoulders on the tail end of the lug and holds the latter in its projected position. The lugs will thus prevent skidding of the wheel. and also promote traction thereof, but these lugs can be retracted at the will of the driver. When this is desired, it is only necessary to move the cam 21 to a position where it engages the projections 25 carried by the extensions 17 of the various pawls 15, and as the cam 21 engages each of these projections it moves the corresponding pawl out of engagement with the adjacent lug 11, and thus allows the spring 19 associated with said lug to move the latter to its normal pos t on ithi the casing. By making each lug ll of elongated contour, the inner end of the lug always remains within the casing, and affords the lug as a unit the maximum strength to withstand any late 'al strain placed upon the lug under the tendency of the vehicle to skid sideways. \Vhile I have shown, the invention in the nature of a wheel attachment it is to be understood that the invention can be used in connection with all types of wheels, and if desired built in wheels of the type used on trucks and tractors. The invention of course eliminates the necessity of using claim 1. The combination with a vehicle wheel, of a casing carried by said wheel, a plurality of ground engaging lugs normally arranged within the casing, means for pro ecting said lugs beyond the periphery of the casing, in

contact with the ground or surface,means designed to automatically engage said lugs and hold them in aprojected position, means for effecting a release of said lugs, and means for automatically retracting the lugs to their normal position with the casing when released.

2. The combination with a vehicle wheel including an axle, of a casing, a circumferential series of lugs normally arranged within the casing and adapted to be projected from the periphery thereof, in contact with the ground or surface, means operated from the said axle for moving said lugs to their projected positions, means for automatically engaging the lugs and holding the latter project-ed, means for effecting .a release of said lugs, and means for automatically returning the lugs to their normal position when released.

8. The combination with a wheel including an axle, of a casing carried by said wheel, a circumferential series of lugs normally arranged within the casing and mounted to be projected through the periphery thereof to contact the ground or surface, means including a manually operable element'for-projecting the said lugs at will, a pivoted pawl arranged within the casing for each lug and adapted to automatically engage the latter and hold the same projected, means for effecting a. release of said lugs at will, and means for automatically returning, the lugs to their normal position within the casing.

4. The combination with a wheel including an axle, of a casing carried by said wheel, a circumferential series of lugs normally arranged within the casing, and adapted to be projected beyond the periphery thereof for contact with the ground, means including a cam carried by the axle for projecting the lugs to a position for use, pivoted pawls arranged within the casing and designed to engage the lugs for holding the latter projected, means for controlling said cams whereby the lugs can be projected at will, means including cams carried by the axle for contact with said pawls to effect a release of said lugs, means for controlling the latter mentioned cams whereby said lugs can be released at will, and means for automatically returning the lugs to normal position within the casing when released.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ALFRED E. HEDGES. 

